The most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. released Wednesday showed that housing costs accelerated in October, posing a persistent challenge to the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation.

Data from Bureau of Labor Statistics showed housing costs, the largest component of the CPI, rose 0.4% from the previous month in October. That was higher than September’s 0.2 percent increase and accounted for more than half of October’s overall monthly increase. On an annual basis, shelter costs rose 4.9% in October, flat September from year to year 4.9% gain.

“Falling inflation hit a snag in October, with the usual culprits — rising shelter and food costs — joined by higher used vehicle prices,” Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote in a note after communication. “With food, transportation and shelter being the top three pain points for consumers, this report did little to ease the burden of high prices.”

Read more: Should you rent or buy a home? How to decide.

Economists have long been anticipating a slowdown in rent growth, which it has been reflected in other databut a general reduction in rents has not yet appeared in the CPI report. The discrepancy can be partly explained by the way the BLS collects rent data every six months, which causes a lag.

“Shelter inflation seems to have gotten a bit noisier over the past couple of years following changes in methodology, meaning any data point is harder to read too much into. Like broader inflation, shelter appears to be making slower progress of late,” Josh Jamner, investment strategist at ClearBridge Investments, wrote after the release.

“However, the target for shelter inflation over the next few months still appears to be lower, given observed market prices and the well-known lags built into the shelter CPI calculation.”

According to the BLS report, rents rose 0.3% in October from the previous month, unchanged from September’s 0.3% increase.

Ownership equivalent rent accelerated slightly, rising 0.4% for the month, up from September’s 0.3% rise. Landlord equivalent rent is the estimated rent that a landlord would pay if they rented their own property.

Broadly speaking, inflation has increased 0.2% from the previous month in October, unchanged from September’s increase and in line with economists’ estimates.

“Given the outsized importance of rent inflation, housing costs need to resume more moderate increases in the coming months to keep inflation in line with the ultimate 2% target,” Nationwide Chief Economist Kathy Bostjancic wrote after the data was released.

Some economists are closely watching another potential increase in rents in the coming months due to the effects of the hurricanes.

“We’re watching to see if we’re going to see a little bit of a temporary increase in rents in terms of the hurricanes because some people have been displaced because they’ve had to work, they’ve had to rent other housing. So you might just see some kind of shortfall,” Stephanie Roth, chief economist at Wolfe Research, told Yahoo Finance ahead of the data release.

Read more about inflation:

Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow X @daniromerotv.

Click here for the latest news and economic indicators to help inform your investment decisions

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance